We have seen Canada from afar several times since we moved out to Washington, but we hadn’t actually crossed the border yet, so this past weekend we decided to put our passports to use and check out Victoria, BC! Due to our work schedules, we were only able to spend 28 hours on Vancouver Island, but we were able to pack a lot into those hours!
Blackball Ferry
There was a crew of six of us for this excursion: Both of us, our coworker, Emily, and her husband, Aaron, our traveling PT friend, Nyssa, and our new traveling nursing friend, Sarah. We all met up at the Port Angeles Ferry Terminal where we caught the earliest Saturday morning Blackball ferry. You should check their website, https://www.cohoferry.com/Schedule, but for the day we sailed, the earliest we could catch was 8:20 a.m. Don’t forget your passport since you’ll be leaving the country! The Blackball Ferry is a bit rockier on the Juan de Fuca Strait than the other Seattle ferries we’ve been on, plus there’s less seating, so we would recommend arriving about an hour early if you’d like a guaranteed seat. We got lucky that it was clear and sunny on our ride over, so we found a seat on the upper deck.
While exploring the ferry, we found a tourism booth selling discounted tickets to the world-famous Butchart Gardens. This ended up working out very well for us! We all purchased a package deal including an entrance ticket into the Butchart Gardens and transportation to and from on a coach bus. Initially, we were planning to share an Uber up to the gardens, as they are a little over 30 minutes north of downtown, but we then discovered that Uber and Lyft do not exist in Victoria. Aside from our tour bus, you can take a cheaper (but much less direct) city bus or a cab. CVS Sightseeing is the company we got our package deal through. The Victoria Inner Harbour was quite beautiful at 10:00 a.m. as our ferry arrived on a perfectly clear day!
Blackball Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria
Arriving in Victoria Harbor
Blackball Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria
Arriving in Victoria Harbor
CVS Sightseeing
It was slick walking off the ferry and right onto the CVS Sightseeing Bus which was parked just outside the ferry ticketing office. The bus driver took the long way up to the Butchart Gardens to bring us through some of the city’s main attractions and give us some background information. Our ride up was about 50 minutes, but the ride back was more direct lasting about 35 minutes. They brought us directly to the Butchart Gardens and then buses left hourly to bring us back downtown in front of the Empress hotel.
CVS bus tour on the way to Butchart Gardens
CVS bus tour on the way to Butchart Gardens
Butchart Gardens
The Butchart Gardens are impressively open 365 days a year. We went on an early October day and it seemed the only flowers that weren’t at full stride were the roses. This was definitely the most impressive garden we’ve ever seen! The layers, vibrant colors, various cultures, and manicured paths were quite spectacular. We spent about an hour and a half wandering the several gardens, grabbed a quick bite at the Coffee Shop at the Butchart Gardens, and then hopped on the 1:00 p.m. bus back downtown. If you are heading to Victoria, we definitely recommend making the trek up to the Butchart Gardens and spending even more time there!
The replacement gardens at Butchart
Perfect day to explore the gardens!
Hanging Garden
Sunken Garden
Layered Garden
Glass-like reflection!
The Victoria crew!
Such vibrant flowers!
Japanese Garden
Adam was skeptical at first, but soon fell in love with the gardens!
The Butchart mansion
Such a perfect sunny day to wander these gardens!
Italian Garden
The replacement gardens at Butchart
Perfect day to explore the gardens!
Hanging Garden
Sunken Garden
Layered Garden
Glass-like reflection!
The Victoria crew!
Such vibrant flowers!
Japanese Garden
Adam was skeptical at first, but soon fell in love with the gardens!
The Butchart mansion
Such a perfect sunny day to wander these gardens!
Italian Garden
Downtown Victoria
The CVS Sightseeing bus dropped us off at The Empress Hotel around 1:40 pm. We got a quick look at the interior of this grand hotel lobby where a lot of famous people have stayed, but they don’t let you go too far in without being a guest. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in our budget to stay at The Empress, but we were still able to enjoy the beautiful exterior. From here, we wandered the downtown area finding cute decorations and all sorts of interesting architecture. Everywhere downtown is extremely walkable. We also stumbled across the narrowest road in Canada, Fan Tan Alley!
The Empress: Victoria’s grandest hotel!
A well-decorated city!
The narrowest road in Canada!
The Empress: Victoria’s grandest hotel!
A well-decorated city!
The narrowest road in Canada!
Breweries
While researching, we stumbled upon an article stating that Victoria was Canada’s craft brew capital, so off we went to discover the best ones. Phillips Brewing Company used to be a car dealership building so it had the coolest vibe. They had good beer and we all enjoyed getting flights with our own personal tasting menus! We liked this brewery the best because there were plenty of tables to sit and hang out at. Another brewery we checked out was Driftwood Brewing. This brewery was a bit of a walk north of the downtown area, passing Vancouver Island and Hoyne Brewing, but it was nice to see some of the less traveled areas. Driftwood had a very small taproom that had a cabin vibe with nowhere to sit, but they only charged $5 Canadian for a sample of each of their six top-rated beers!
Phillips Brewing Company: formerly a car dealership
Inside of Phillips Brewing Company
They give you a personalized menu with your flight.
Driftwood Brewery
Inside of Driftwood. A small cabin vibe, but good beer for a good price!
Phillips Brewing Company: formerly a car dealership
Inside of Phillips Brewing & Malting Company
They give you a personalized menu with your flight.
Driftwood Brewery
Inside of Driftwood. A small cabin vibe, but good beer for a good price!
Poutine
Poutine is a classic Canadian dish, so we had to get some while in Victoria. We didn’t want to just have any poutine though, so we asked a local we met at one of the breweries where he recommended. He suggested we head to the Pink Bicycle, which was on our way back to the center of downtown, so we did just that. We were lucky enough to snag the only patio table and the poutine did not disappoint!
A local recommended this place to us as having the best poutine!
We had to get some poutine while in Canada!
A local recommended this place to us as having the best poutine!
We had to get some poutine while in Canada!
Axe & Grind
Our next stop was Axe & Grind, an axe throwing club located just off Government Street! After signing waivers and getting a quick lesson from the Viking, Ragnar, we were able to snag a hub for about an hour. They call it axe throwing, but size-wise it was more of a hatchet. Regardless, it was a blast refining our axe throwing skills (it’s harder than it looks)! We got competitive and turned it into a bit of a game (kind of like bowling) where we each got three throws at a time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish all 10 frames because we were kicked out at the top of the hour for another group. This was a unique activity and we would recommend a stop here if you’re in the area looking for something new to do. If possible, reserve ahead of time online because they get pretty busy!
Axe & Grind
Axe throwing is harder than it looks!
But it’s definitely a blast!
Trying to be hardcore
Axe & Grind
Axe throwing is harder than it looks!
But it’s definitely a blast!
Trying to be hardcore
Victoria at Night
By the time we exited Axe & Grind, the sun had set and we were able to get some night time exploring in. Victoria is quite charming at night time because many of the buildings, bridges, etc. are lined with lights. The parliament building is lit as an over 100-year-old tradition in honor of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee.
Everything is extra pretty at night in Victoria!
The inner harbor is quite charming in the evenings!
Everything is extra pretty at night in Victoria!
The inner harbor is quite charming in the evenings!
Irish Night-Life
There are quite a few Irish-style pubs located in downtown Victoria. For dinner, we first tried the Bard & Banker, but the wait was over an hour, so instead, we went to Irish Times right down the road. Irish Times is a classic Irish Pub and we weren’t disappointed with falling into this place at all! They had tasty food, good beer (great Guinness for not being Ireland), and live Irish music! After dinner, we headed back to Bard & Banker, a Scottish-style pub for some drinks, people-watching, dancing, and upbeat live music!
Irish Times: a great Irish Pub for dinner, drinks, and live Irish tunes!
Bard & Banker: a classy spot for drinks, live music, and dancing!
Irish Times: a great Irish Pub for dinner, drinks, and live Irish tunes!
Bard & Banker: a classy spot for drinks, live music, and dancing!
Come See Victoria
Come Sunday morning, we hit up Cora’s for some big breakfast portions and then we did a History & Architecture walking tour offered by Come See Victoria. 10:00 am was the earliest tour time offered, so we signed up for that one. Dave Mason was a very informative tour guide who led us through the downtown area for a little over two hours. We would recommend this tour and guide to anyone looking to learn a bit more about the Victoria history and downtown area. It was reasonably priced and covered a decent amount of ground.
“Come See Victoria” History & Architecture walking tour by Dave Mason.
We learned about indigenous history.
We walked by the beautiful Parliament building (it was quite busy on Victoria Marathon Day).
We walked down several streets with fun and interesting architecture and colors!
We learned about these cheater floors to avoid taxes.
We explored Chinatown and this school they use to teach Chinese languages now.
Rogers’ Chocolates: where our walking tour ended!
“Come See Victoria” History & Architecture walking tour by Dave Mason.
We learned about indigenous history.
We walked by the beautiful Parliament building (it was quite busy on Victoria Marathon Day).
We walked down several streets with fun and interesting architecture and colors!
We explored Chinatown and this school they use to teach Chinese languages now.
Rogers’ Chocolates: where our walking tour ended!
Pendray Inn and Tea House
After our walking tour, we headed right for our afternoon tea reservation at the Pendray Inn and Tea House. The Empress definitely has the most famous high tea experience, but it is very pricey, so we opted for the much less expensive but still authentic, classy, and tasty Pendray experience. We got an entire room of this fancy mansion to ourselves! Most of us went for the traditional tea option which included a teapot full of your choice of tea and a 3-tiered platter filled with all sorts of tasty crumpets, pastries, and desserts! We spent about two hours here enjoying our British-inspired tea experience and then headed across the street to the Victoria ferry terminal to catch the Blackball Ferry back to Port Angeles.
Pendray Inn and Tea House
Beautiful teapots filled with delicious tea!
3 tiers of tasty treats included in our traditional afternoon tea!
A great way to end our time in the charming city of Victoria!
Pendray Inn and Tea House
Beautiful teapots filled with delicious tea!
3 tiers of tasty treats included in our traditional afternoon tea!
A great way to end our time in the charming city of Victoria!
If we ever make it back to Vancouver Island, we would bring transportation to try and hit up some of the hikes just outside of Victoria, such as the Mount Finlayson Hike and some other spots outside of the downtown area including Sea Cider.
I’m loving the image of Adam walking the
Pretty gardens and drinking tea! Such a fun, quick trip filled with some different adventures!
Yes, it’s fun seeing Adam out of his element sometimes 🙂